Embodiments relate to an electric charging apparatus, and particularly, to an electric charging apparatus that is capable of determining whether a power supply device is grounded.
Air pollution in big cities is getting worse. Gas emission from vehicles may be one of the main causes of the air pollution. In this situation, studies on commercialization of so-called electric vehicles using electricity which is non-polluting energy as a power source are actively being progressed. The electric vehicles receive electric energy from the outside to charge batteries thereof and then obtain driving power that is mechanical energy through motors coupled to wheels by using voltages charged in the batteries. That is, since the electric vehicles need to drive the motors by using the voltages charged in the batteries, high capacity chargeable batteries are being used. Thus, there are electric charging apparatuses for charging these high capacity chargeable batteries.
The electric charging apparatuses are divided into high-speed battery chargers and idle-speed battery chargers.
The high-speed battery chargers are installed at places such as gas stations where a user stops for quickly charging an electric vehicle during the traveling. Here, it takes about 20 minutes to charge the electric vehicle. On the other hand, the idle-speed battery chargers are installed at places such as parking lots, shopping centers where it is expected that electric vehicles are parked for a long time. Here, it takes about five hours to charge the electric vehicles.
Such an electric charging apparatus has a risk of electric shock because it uses electricity. Particularly, when a power supply unit is not normally grounded, the user using the electric charging apparatus may be get shocked, and also the electric charging apparatus may be broken. However, the electric charging apparatus according to related art has a limitation that it is not determined whether the power supply device is grounded.